The number of types of electronic devices that are commercially available has increased tremendously the past few years and the rate of introduction of new devices shows no signs of abating. Devices, such as tablet, laptop, netbook, desktop, and all-in-one computers, cell, smart, and media phones, storage devices, portable media players, wearable computing devices, navigation systems, monitors, and others, have become ubiquitous.
Power and data may be provided from one device to another over cables that may include one or more wire conductors, fiber optic cables, or other conductors. Connector inserts may be located at each end of these cables and may be inserted into connector receptacles in the communicating or power transferring devices.
Some devices may include a connector insert on the device itself, in place of a connector receptacle. The motivation for including a connector insert may be size or other reasons. That is, a connector insert may be smaller than a connector receptacle and may be included on a device in place of a connector receptacle for this reason. In such a situation, it may not be possible to connect a connector insert on a cable directly to a connector insert on a device.
In such cases an adapter may be of use. For example, a “female-to-female” adapter may be used. Such an adapter may have a connector receptacle on each end of a housing. A first connector receptacle at a first end of the adapter may accept a connector insert at an end of a cable and a second connector receptacle at a second end of the adapter may accept a connector insert on the device. In this way, the device may be able to communicate and share power with a second device at the far end of the cable.
Unfortunately, these adapters may be large and bulky. Also, they may be complicated and made of many individual parts. This complexity may make the adapters expensive to manufacture and difficult to assemble.
Thus, what is needed are adapters that may be small in size and may be readily assembled.